Evatt and Jones return as Spireites training begins, but Lee is out

Danny Wilson welcomed Ian Evatt and Dan Jones back to training this week, as the defensive pair got the all clear from medical staff.
Chesterfield return to trainingChesterfield return to training
Chesterfield return to training

But goalkeeper Tommy Lee won’t be joining in the preparations for the start of the season, having undergone surgery for a shoulder problem.

Lee’s probable absence for the start of the season is a blow for the Spireites.

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Chesterfield’s number one injured his shoulder against Bury in the final home game of last season and was unable to correct the issue by strengthening it through training.

The club’s head of sports science and medicine, Rodger Wylde said: “A shoulder lesion was diagnosed, which is a tear within the joint, and for a goalkeeper that is quite a serious injury.

“He was allowed to carry on for the last game at Bradford, which Tommy wanted to do to make it 100 per cent appearances over the season.”

“After the Bradford game he was assessed again and it was decided to leave the shoulder and see how it would go on doing just strength work for four weeks.”

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“With the four weeks up Tommy was still struggling with it, so an operation was necessary.”

Lee had the surgery two weeks ago and is likely to miss the start of the season, leaving Wilson with two goalkeeping slots to fill after the club released Aaron Chapman.

Wylde was able to deliver some good news to the boss this week however, with Jones and Evatt declared fit and ready for pre-season.

Jones, 28, broke his ankle last November and an attempted comeback was aborted over complications.

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Wylde said: “Dan got the all-clear in Thursday, but we knew that anyway from the progress he had been making with his training.

“We knew we’d got to the root of the problem, which was a different one from his original fracture.

“There were a few issues we had to get to the bottom of: his shoe size, his own personal over-training but now it’s all been sorted.

“He’s ready now for normal training, he’s proved his ability to train now through the summer - where he’s been in regularly.”

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For Evatt, pre-season is a chance to bring a frustrating chapter of his career to an end.

The 34-year-old suffered an Achilles injury midway through the season but there was some confusion over the cause of his discomfort.

Wylde said: “Ian had a tough time after being mis-diagnosed by two different specialists.

“He was back at the end of the season and probably running at about 90 per cent.

“If that’s where he was then he’s now 100% to join in when pre-season gets underway.”

Pre-season training began on Monday.